Meeting Elsy Wameyo was a fairy tale kind of story. I came across her on Music Charts 254 (now Ngoma Charts), checked out her singles, listened to her debut EP, Nilotic, and reviewed it with Irauka Sam via Zoom. She is one of the artists who defined my 2022 musically. But I was not the only one. Nilotic was in all our Sanaa kwa Sana lists of Top 10 Kenyan EPs and Top 10 Kenyan Hip-Hop Albums/EPs of 2022.
Elsy belongs to a group of contemporary Kenyan artists flying the country’s flag high in the diaspora, like Jinku, Waithaka, Nyokabi Kariũki, Le Ru, KMRU, and more. Last year, BBC had a live recording at the Kenya National Theatre on Tuesday evening, February 21, for the Nairobi edition of the Arts Hour on Tour. Presenter Nikki Bedi hosted six Kenyan creatives who are drawing on the myths, histories, and traditions of Kenya to shape new ideas for the future. They were Savara Mudigi, Fancy Fingers, Muthoni Drummer Queen, Doug Mutai, Sheila Munyiva, and Andrew Kaggia.
After the live recording – which featured a comedy set from Doug, performances by MDQ, Savara, and Fancy, and conversations on Afrofuturism, Afrobubblegum art, and the LGBTQIA+ community in Kenya – one of the people I interacted with is Ywaya Tajiri of Watendawili. In our conversation, he mentioned that he had been communicating with a Kenyan female artist living in Australia. I instantly had a hunch. As soon as he started, “El-,” I unbelievably finished, “Elsy Wameyo?”
Yes, it was!
I was enraptured. Elsy is here? That was the last thing I expected. Upon meeting her, I registered my disbelief and excitement. A month and about two weeks later, Sanaa kwa Sana hosted her at Cheche Bookshop & Cafe for a one-year anniversary conversation for her debut Nilotic EP.
Since leaving, 2023 was the year she spent the most time home – the nuances of defining “home,” which we covered in our conversation, notwithstanding. Elsy, who left Kenya for Australia in 2006 as an eight-year-old, also had a first-time experience in her home country as an artist. During the summer of 2022, she was on the Nilotic tour; watching clips of her rocking stages from miles away was awe-inspiring. She came home in February 2023, left in the summer to tour the United Kingdom and European Union in June, and returned in July before eventually leaving in late November. Together with EARTHGANG, she was part of Genesis Owusu’s STRUGGLER tour last month.
While at Cheche, she shared that she would love to perform in the space before leaving for Australia because of its intimacy. The show was to be the finale of her Nilotic tour, at home. However, it didn’t happen at Cheche. The underground gem, The MIST, housed Elsy’s first performance at home ever. “The Nilotic Tour is finally coming home. The finale of a journey that began in Kenya returns to its origin. This one’s for MY people,” read her social media posts. Her appreciation to the hyped standing crowd and her acknowledgement of the moment’s significance were apparent: “I’m so excited to be here with you tonight. This is my first show here.”
And she made it worthwhile.
Finally – after standing, sitting, walking around, chatting, and buying drinks – patient fans, friends, and family were treated to an intimate and energetic fifty-minute performance. Dj Nik accompanied Elsy and played the sets before and after the show. Coster Ojwang and Ywaya Tajiri, two of Elsy’s “favorite Nilotic artists,” in her words, joined her midway through. The Nilotic experience was in full bloom.
The MIST was unusually bright. Apart from the wooden benches and the supporting structure affixed to the bar counter, the LED lights that illuminated the space, as I haven’t seen before, were an equal surprise. I hadn’t been there since Blinky Bill’s performance on September 8, the same evening Unganisha hosted their exclusive Mbili Mbili album listening party at Santuri Salon. It was different. Besides the lights positioned at angles in the four corners of the ceiling, a screen displaying the Nilotic cover and a bold, all caps, spinning text of Elsy Wameyo’s name in the middle brightened the room further. There was a sizeable portable stage platform on pallets in front of the screen and a single stand with a microphone in front of the stage. Everything spelled action. It felt mystic.
Following Nik’s eclectic urban music set, Elsy walked in at 9:23 p.m. In her flowy red pants and shirt, a red corset with black strings, and black Air Force 1 sneakers, I thought, “Kung Fu Kenny.”
Despite forgetting to turn her mic on and briefly performing without the room hearing her vocals, Elsy didn’t lose a step, nor did she restart the performance. Once she figured something was amiss, a quick, discreet communication occurred between her and the sound team who sat behind the crowd. They signaled that she had not turned on her mic. She swiftly did and continued as if nothing had happened, staying in pocket and transmitting the energy “Nilotic” deserves.
Concluding the song, she asked the seated fans to get rid of their chairs so that the entire room stood and so that she could absorb the vibe better. The sound was crisp. Her setlist featured high-energy songs and mellow, reflective tunes. On screen, different visuals accompanied different songs. Burning manyattas during “Nilotic”; kids playing and running barefoot during “Hunger”; a face that slowly zoomed in when she performed “Outcast.” For the most part, the screen displayed simple random colour graphics.
Nilotic encapsulates Elsy’s range. The singer and songwriter took a stab at rapping on her debut, yet it sounds as if it’s her first love the way singing is. Her sociopolitical side reveals itself in “Hunger,” for instance, as it does in her single, “Outcast,” about which she confessed, “I wrote this when I was going through a hard time… feeling like you don’t belong.” She highlights her singing in the similarly themed “Sulwe.” Something she also does in “Hunger,” “Promise,” and “Pastor,” her faith being an integral part of the last two. “River Nile” and “Nilotic” are showcases of Elsy at her most ferocious and confident. The unreleased “Umva,” which she taught the crowd for a call and response performance, is a drill-trap track that captures Elsy in the same state of mind.
In the initial stages of her performance, there was a point she reached into her purse next to Nik’s decks, stage right. I thought she was having sweets. She was sucking something, and you could notice it when she spoke. Only to find out after the show that she had a cold and had been terribly out of sorts a few days before. She had just recovered her voice the day before her performance. Afterwards, Elsy admitted in a conversation that she felt she could not proceed with the show after her “Nilotic” opener.
Unknown to the fans, Coster was also suffering an excruciating migraine that evening. In between walking around and sitting down, moments before he joined Elsy on stage, he was battling insufferable pain, hand to his temple and a water bottle in the other, hoping that the situation pacified. Regardless, the show must always go on. This was the case for a recovering Elsy, who staged a lively ten-track set, and a distressed Coster, whose fans loved every bit of. He walked in to an ecstatic crowd and sang “Hera” from his sophomore album, Fweny. In similar fashion, the crowd welcomed Ywaya, who joined Coster and Elsy on stage to perform “Cham Thum (Atoti).”
But they were not done. “They are not done, are they?” Elsy posed. “No!” The crowd shouted. To their delight, they sang and danced to the hit, “Manyo Pesa.”
Elsy shared the stage with her favorites, bringing the Nilotic Experience home. Wednesday, November 22, 2023, was a historic night. “Thank you guys so much for rocking with me, from the bottom of my heart. This is such a blessing. To be with my family, to be with my friends, to be with Kenya, for the first time ever,” she affirmed.
History shall remember this night, but before then, invest now. She finished her performance echoing the memorable refrain of “River Nile” as she walked off the stage: “Should’ve invested the first time.”
It’s not too late.
(Photos: Holyziner)
Elsy releases a new single, “Sinner,” next week on January 31.
Sanaa kwa Sana 